Already a popular player and stalwart in Chicago, Noah broke through during his seventh season to capture the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award and earn nominations to the All-NBA First Team and NBA All-Defensive First Team. He averaged career-highs of 12.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.2 steals, earning a trip to his second-straight All-Star game in the process. One year after becoming the seventh player in NBA history to record a triple-double with double-digit blocks, Noah became just the fourth center in NBA history to register four triple-doubles consisting of points, rebounds and assists in a single season. He was also the first Bulls player since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen (1992-93) to record four in a single season. Noah enters the 2014-15 campaign coming off knee surgery and is expected to be limited at times during the season.

One of the most underrated players in the league, due in large part to his team (Atlanta) and in ability to stay on the court, Horford has become the Hawks’ unquestioned leader and go-to player. In just 29 games last season, the second in three that has been cut short early due to a torn pectoral, Horford averaged a career-high 18.6 points per game on a career-best .567 shooting. Though he has not been selected to an NBA All-Star team since 2001, Horford plans to make his way back this year with his eyes set on a 20-10 average.

1 » Training camp for many NBA teams begins on Tuesday and there are currently 15 former Florida Gators on rosters with 12 assured of making the cut out of training camp this season. Guard Bradley Beal (Washington), forward Matt Bonner (San Antonio), F Corey Brewer (Minnesota), point guard Nick Calathes (Memphis), power forward Udonis Haslem (Miami), PF Al Horford (Atlanta), PF David Lee (Golden State), F Mike Miller (Cleveland), center Joakim Noah (Chicago), F Chandler Parsons (Dallas), PF Marreese Speights (Golden State) and C Patric Young (New Orleans) will all certainly find their way onto regular-season rosters. Also competing in training camp right now are PF Vernon Macklin (New Orleans), F Erik Murphy (Boston) and F Casey Prather (Phoenix). Murphy has barely played since being selected in the second round of the 2013 NBA Draft and will be on his fourth team in just over one full season. Macklin and Prather both received non-guaranteed, league-minimum training camp contracts.

Seven former letterwinners – including Gator Greats Matt Bonner (basketball), Nicole McCray (volleyball) and Camilo Villegas (men’s golf) – will be inducted as members of the UF Athletic Hall of Fame’s 2015 class.

The F Club and Gator Boosters, Inc. announced Tuesday that the honors will be bestowed upon these former players at the Hall of Fame Banquet on April 10 in the Holloway Touchdown Terrace at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

1 » According to multiple reports Sunday afternoon, 10-year NBA veteran F Matt Bonner will re-sign with the San Antonio Spurs. Bonner, who made nearly $4 million in 2013-14 – the final season of a four-year, $13.9 million contract he signed back in 2010 – will play his ninth-straight campaign with San Antonio once terms of the deal are finalized. On Saturday, Bonner was in his native Concord, New Hampshire; he brought the Larry O’Brien Trophy home to Rundlett Middle School for his annual summer basketball camp. “It means a lot to me to bring the trophy here to Concord,” Bonner told the Concord Monitor. “it’s very symbolic. I literally grew up a block from [Rundlett], right down on South Street. So now, at the age of 34, to have the NBA Championship trophy come here, it kind of brings it all full circle.”

2 » Former Florida Gators center Patric Young has played well thus far in a pair of NBA Summer League games with the New Orleans Pelicans in Las Vegas, Nevada. Coming off the bench in his first game on Friday, Young scored 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting with 13 rebounds in 19 minutes but did cough up three turnovers. On Sunday, Young earned a start at power forward, finishing +25 after playing a team-high 29 minutes. He was 5-for-6 from the field, scoring 10 points with six boars, a block and only one turnover. Neither point guard Scottie Wilbekin (Philadelphia 76ers) nor F Erik Murphy (Utah Jazz) impressed in their debuts. Forward Casey Prather did not see the court with the Atlanta Hawks in his first game but chipped in four points on 2-of-4 shooting with a rebound, two steals and a block in 20 minutes on Sunday.

For the fourth-straight season and sixth time since 2006, at least one former Florida Gators basketball player has ended an NBA season as a champion as the San Antonio Spurs knocked off the Miami Heat 4-1 in the 2014 NBA Finals on Sunday night.

With San Antonio winning the finals for the first time since 2007, forward Matt Bonner captured his second ring (2007, 2014). Miami power forward Udonis Haslem was looking for his fourth ring (2006, 2012-13) but ultimately came up short.

F MATT BONNER, San Antonio Spurs: GP/GS (6/2), MIN (10.5), PPG (2.3), RPG (1.5), APG (0.8), SPG (0.0), BPG (0.2), TPG (0.2), FPG (1.2)
» Shooting: FG% (.313), 3P% (.333), FT% (.000)
» Notes: Bonner played more than 15 minutes per game in the final three contests of the series, starting the final two. He went 5-for-10 from the field and 4-for-8 from three in those games.
» Playoffs: The No. 1 Spurs defeated the No. 2 Oklahoma City Thunder in six games.

NOTES
» A former Gators basketball player is guaranteed to win an NBA title for the fourth-straight year and sixth time since 2000.
» Haslem is looking to three-peat and capture his fourth career title (2006, 2012-13), while Bonner is hoping to win his second NBA crown (2007).

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The first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs concluded on Sunday with only three of the 10 former Florida Gators in the postseason seeing their teams advance to the conference semifinals.

Former Gators were represented on eight of the 16 playoff teams with eight total players active (five starters, three reserves). Three of those five starters have been eliminated.

OnlyGators.com has checked and re-checked the box scores to bring you a summary of what these Florida players accomplished in the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs.

* Players names highlighted in orange have advanced to the second round.

STARTERS (5)C JOAKIM NOAH, Chicago Bulls: GP/GS (5/5), MIN (42.0), PPG (10.4), RPG (12.8), APG (4.6), SPG (1.0), BPG (1.4), TPG (3.8), FPG (3.8)
» Shooting: FG% (.512), 3P% (.000), FT% (.588)
» Highlights: Noah posted three double-doubles in five games led by a commanding 20 points and 12 boards in a two-point Game 2 home loss. He dealt with heavy defensive pressure throughout the series but nevertheless combined for 33 rebounds in the final two games of the series.
» Playoffs: The No. 4-seed Bulls fell in five games to the No. 5 Washington Wizards and were eliminated from postseason action.

F/C DAVID LEE, Golden State Warriors: GP/GS (7/7), MIN (31.1), PPG (13.9), RPG (9.1), APG (2.6), SPG (0.6), BPG (0.0), TPG (2.4), FPG (4.0), A/TO (1.1)
» Shooting: FG% (.532), 3P% (.000), FT% (.789)
» Highlights: Lee posted three double-doubles in the series though only one came in a victory as he put up 20 points and 13 rebounds in a series-opening road win. He went off for 18 points and 10 boards in Game 5 and saw lucky number 13 pop up in both points and boards as his team was knocked out of the playoffs in Game 7.
» Playoffs: The No. 6-seed Warriors lost in seven games to the No. 3-seed Los Angeles Clippers and were eliminated from postseason action.

F CHANDLER PARSONS, Houston Rockets: GP/GS (6/6), MIN (41.5), PPG (19.3), RPG (6.8), APG (2.3), SPG (0.7), BPG (0.3), TPG (0.8), FPG (3.2)
» Shooting: FG% (.438), 3P% (.361), FT% (.733)
» Highlights: Parsons scored in double figures in all six games and posted a double-double in the Game 6 finale but was most impressive in Game 4 when he scored 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting, drained 4-of-6 threes and hauled in eight rebounds in a 123-120 overtime loss. He nearly helped Houston stave off elimination in Game 6 with a last-second shot but saw a buzzer-beater negate his last-ditch efforts.
» Playoffs: The No. 4-seed Rockets lost in six games to the No. 5-seed Portland Trailblazers and were eliminated from postseason action.

With the 2013-14 NBA regular season concluding on Wednesday, 10 of the 12 former Florida Gators basketball players in the league advanced to the 2014 NBA Playoffs and saw their campaign continue.

Former Gators are represented on eight of the 16 playoff teams with nine total players active for the playoffs (four starters, five reserves).

OnlyGators.com has checked and re-checked the box scores to bring you a summary of what these Florida players accomplished throughout the entire 2013-14 season and can look ahead to in the NBA Playoffs.

* Players names highlighted in orange have advanced to the 2014 NBA Playoffs.

PLAYER OF THE YEARC JOAKIM NOAH, Chicago Bulls: GP/GS (80/80), MIN (35.2), PPG (12.6), RPG (11.3), APG (5.4), SPG (1.2), BPG (1.5), TPG (2.4), FPG (3.1), A/TO (2.3)
» Shooting: FG% (.475), 3P% (.000), FT% (.737)
» Highlights: Four triple-doubles, 47 double-doubles
» Top 25 ranks (season): Triple-doubles (No. 2), total rebounds (No. 4), offensive rebounds (No. 4), offensive rebounds per game (No. 4), double-doubles (No. 5), defensive rebounds (No. 7), defensive rebounds per game (No. 8), total efficiency points (No. 8), blocks (No. 10), blocks per game (No. 12), efficiency ranking (No. 14), minutes played (No. 16), assists (No. 22), assists per game (No. 25)
» Career-highs (season): Games played (80), games started (80), minutes played (2,820), points (1,007, 12.6 per game), offensive rebounds (282), defensive rebounds (618), total rebounds (900, 11.3 per game), assists (431, 5.4 per game), steals (99, 1.2 per game), turnovers (194), fouls (245), field goals made (380), field goals attempted (800), free throws made (247), free throws attempted (335)
» Career-highs (game): Assists (14), minutes played (50)
» Notes: Noah became the fourth center in NBA history with four triple-doubles of points, rebounds and assists in a single season (Wilt Chamberlain, David Robinson, Bill Russell). He was the first Chicago player since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen (1992-93) to record four triple-doubles in a single season. Noah also competed in his second-straight NBA All-Star game, is a candidate for league MVP and is almost a sure-fire bet to receive a number of other honors.
» Playoffs: The Bulls are the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference and will take on the No. 5 Washington Wizards beginning on Sunday.

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